The Best of 2014

As is expected of everyone with more than just a keen love of film - read: obsessive film nerds and the like - the last few days of December are marked by the obligatory lists of best films, worst films, etc. Why would this blog of mine be any exception to that rule? So here's my personal Top-5 of Best Pictures of the year.

5: Gone Girl

David Fincher's exploration of the darkness behind the facade that is the American Dream packs a mean punch. It's a very cynical film, filled with black humour, that shatters the hopes for wedlock of the uninitiated and might be painfully recognizable for those who have been married for a while. Nevertheless, it enlarges such fears and reservations of wedded couples to absurd extremes. No side is chosen in this battle of the sexes, which introduces a seemingly perfect married couple that is tearing itself apart as diabolical schemes to gain the upper hand between both protagonists, the pair of them positively horrible people, explode to national outrage as the relentlessly hungry media, also not spared the necessary critique, are drawn into this very personal little conflict. As usual, Fincher makes sure the ingenious narrative is always one step ahead of its audience, as he surprises us with more than just a few unexpected plot twists here and there and leaves the opening of the film intentionally ambiguous. You might decide against tying the knot after having seen this picture.

4: The Wolf of Wall Street

Though technically a 2013 movie in its country of origin, Martin Scorsese's latest masterpiece sure left its mark on Dutch theaters in the year that followed. Another magnum opus in an oeuvre that largely consists of those, Scorsese's j'accuse against the world of Big Money proves both a harrowing descent into utter debauchery and stupendous opulence, as well as an infectiously hilarious comedy, since it's all just too unreal to be believed. The veteran director once more gets the most out of his muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, in a rollercoaster ride of the life time that is Jordan Belfort's. Once simply an ambitious but caring man intent on looking out for his wife, he turns into a ravenous money monster once his position on Wall Street is secured due to his talents of outrageous scheming and charismatic persuasion. What follows is a near orgy of sexual escapades, trophy wives, excessively expensive vehicles and all the drugs large quantities of money can buy, including the Holy Grail of Quaaludes. You cannot help but both admire and abhor this man, but when you see him rolling out his Porsche half paralyzed from an overdose of opiates, drooling something fierce, while afterwards abusing his wife and kid, you know that all the money and power does not make this man someone to be envied. And you wonder how many thoroughly decadent people are still ruling the upper echelons of Wall Street thanks to Belfort's example...

3: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Star Spangled Avenger's second solo feature (sort of, since he's fortunately not without his allies) exceeds the level of its predecessor on every level, while doing a great job shaking up the Marvel Cinematic Universe to its core. Both a successful homage to political spy thrillers of the Seventies and a fabulous spy thriller in its own right, this movie marks Marvel's most intriguing plot to date. Poor Fourties' icon Cap (Chris Evans) still needs to adjust to the brave new world that is the 21st Century, but finds himself at odds with a much changed Home of the Free that in many ways is not his own anymore. To make matters worse, his worldwide peacekeeping employer S.H.I.E.L.D. turns out to be infiltrated by a villainous secret organization hellbent on world domination and marks both him and his friends as traitors to the American cause. To top all his misery, a painful ghost from his past returns to thwart the super soldier's attempts to save his country from shadow tyranny. A fantastic combination of explosive action, intelligent story telling and carefully crafted intertwining with the rest of the Marvel Universe makes the second Captain America movie the most wonderfully balanced Marvel movie to date.

2: Guardians of the Galaxy

And now for something completely different, Marvel must have thought. So rather than doing another superhero movie, as is all the rage in Hollywood, they decided to turn to one of their lesser known assets and delivered this delightful space opera. Infectiously setting up the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, James Gunn's talents for quirky, off-beat humour are paired with an almost Whedonesque sense of writing dialogue for ensembles, as we are introduced to an unlikely bunch of interstellar outlaws who find themselves forced to rely upon one another to save a planet from destruction at the hands of a rampagingly zealous madman. Brilliant visual effects, enticing new characters and locations and an irresistable sense of the excitement to experience in the farthest reaches of space echo the enjoyment of the old Star Wars trilogy, but with a character distinctly its own. Though the plot may not be as strong as that of Cap 2, the genuine sense of fun Guardians of the Galaxy instills in its audience simply exceeds even that film. 2014 proved a great year for Marvel, so hopefully the company can keep up this momentum a while longer.

1: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson's latest turns out to be his finest as well. All his usual ingredients - quirky humour and characters, auteurist visuals, dysfunctional family issues and a top cast having an absolute ball - are thrown into the sweetest mix imaginable. The film looks like a wonderfully prepared cake and digests as such even more so. At the same time, Anderson turns total filmophile and utilizes every old trick in the book to acknowledge the equally rich history of the medium. Editing, sound, special effects and photography are all applied to their limits, making for a picture so thoughtfully stylized it might as well be a classical painting. If there is one director that is not to be missed by anyone who claims to love the cinema, it's Anderson. And if there's one movie on his resumé that is not to be missed by anyone, it's The Grand Budapest Hotel. The only downside seems to be it's gonna be next to impossible to top this film...

Today's Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

 

The Wolf of Wall Street: ****/*****, or 8/10

You might at first be inclined to ask yourself, 'a three-hour movie about money, how can that be the least bit interesting?' Don't worry, for Martin Scorsese's grand 'dramedy' The Wolf of Wall Street is not a movie about money. In fact, the lead character himself directly acknowledges this fear early on in the movie by stating that 'we wouldn't be interested in all that stuff', afterwards largely avoiding the subject altogether. So don't go in expecting any dreary financial number crunching, since it's really all about what said money (lots and lots and lots of it!) does with people. People, inherently flawed, get progressively flawed – read: fucked up – as their income increases astronomically. Meanwhile, every sense of ethics, responsibility or even plain decency goes right out the window. Scorsese's case in point: Jordan Belfort.

Belfort, a superb piece of acting by Leonardo DiCaprio, starts out as many a regular Joe from the middle class: screwed over by a financial crash and reduced to unemployment, thus unable to provide for his loving wife. All the more disappointing for him as he had just found a job at a large Wall Street firm, where his boss (an impeccably loathsome Matthew McConaughey) saw his potential and advised him not to abstain of sex and drugs while on this job. Thanks to Belfort's talent for agressive sales pitching, he quickly recuperates selling worthless stock at a fifty percent commission rate, and before long he returns to Wall Street triumphantly with a loyal band of peculiar misfits in his wake (including Jonah Hill on steroids), all of whom have their specific place in his grand scheme of taking money from the ignorant masses that hope to make a quick buck on the stock market. The only one making easy money are Jordan and his friends though, and before long they become increasingly desensitized to the plight of their clients in favor of their own ruthless acquisition of wealth. 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is born, and despite Jordan's all too human persona, such a term fits him perfectly, as this alpha male and his pack of wild dogs scour the land preying on the weak and gullible to feast upon their cash in a financial frenzy. One that seemingly knows no bounds, as Belfort continues his practices for years without sanctions or indictments, despite ongoing FBI scrutiny. Nevertheless, Belfort needs no help in bringing him down, as he does a fine job at that on his own.

In many ways The Wolf of Wall Street is a fairly typical story of a man gaining the world but losing his soul in the process, as he is unable to keep his base instincts in check. Arguably, it's not the plot that makes the movie stand out, it's the way Scorsese tells it to his audience. Walking a fine line between comedy and drama that finds both in perfect balance throughout the whole, The Wolf of Wall Street proves infectiously hilarious at one moment and effectively poignant the next. As Jordan's novel lifestyle as a millionaire progressively takes its toll, his personal life spirals ever more out of control emotionally and physically as his constant drive for more and more dominates his every move. Fondly remembering his former boss' advice, Belfort sets out on a course of rampant sex and drugs without worrying about any consequences, as money will no doubt solve any obstacles in his path. Small wonder his wife soon leaves him as she finds him snogging a super model. Marrying said model doesn't increase the happiness in his family life, children notwithstanding. Abusing every conceivable illicit substance imaginable also doesn't work in his favor. Despite the many yachts, limousines, prostitutes and drugs, Scorsese makes it amply clear that this is not a life to be envied as Belfort's once decent personality is replaced by a greedy, amoral and self-annihilating character that can only get the better of him, sooner if not later. Having become a veritable slave of money, Belfort remains miserable, and we wouldn't have it any other way, as his road to a personal hell is paved with one outrageously funny messed up situation after another.

Aside from DiCaprio's top performance, Scorsese gets the very best out of his cast and crew in conveying this tale of human deterioration at the hands of boundless greed, which often borders on the unbelievable. Exploding planes, savage storms at sea, goldfish eating, dwarf tossing and the generally lavish parties of debauchery at the office heralding the weekend are among the many elements of The Wolf of Wall Street that are so absurd, they can only be true. In terms of comedy, nothing beats the delayed kicking-in of exceptionally rare drugs that causes a most unwelcome physical reaction at an hour of crisis at which the need to get home fast results in one of the most humorous car scenes ever on the big screen. Despite all the controversy, the many scenes of nudity and excessive swearing feel rightfully placed, and credit must be given to both the director and his brave cast to stick with such daring material instead of catering to a general sense of good public taste, something Belfort severely lacked. The fast paced, witty dialogue written by Terence Winter proves to be in excellent hands of the assembled cast of seasoned actors, including the likes of Jean Dujardin, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler and Joanna Lumley. Stylistically there's little to comment against the picture as the ingenious editing, wonderful cinematography and delightful score, featuring many a successful callback to the period in question, are found to be in perfect sync to make for a superior cinematic experience. But The Wolf of Wall Street at its heart remains another intimate collaboration between the grandmaster Scorsese and his personal muse DiCaprio, their fifth and finest thus far. The duo makes damn sure you care enough about Belfort to run along with him for three hours, but never are you really allowed to sympathize with him, given his deplorable nature.

With The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese has directed a modern classic warning audiences of the destructive dangers of endless self-enrichment, a film that is easily matched to any already existing films on the topic. Belfort claimed to be inspired in his professional shenanigans by the despicably greedy character of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) in Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Despite Scorsese's upsetting picture of the life and times of Belfort in his own Wall Street film, history has proven that there's always people present who just don't get the picture as they consider the wildest possible life of sex and drugs that money can buy the highest achievable goal to strive for. With DiCaprio's sublime performance, it stands to reason, like it or not, that in another three decades we'll be watching movies about similarly morally bankrupt characters based on actual personalities that will claim to have been inspired by Jordan Belfort in 'that classic Scorsese film'. Not something to look forward to, but a sad reality of what money hath ever wrought.

 

The Aviator

Rating: ****/*****, or 7/10

Martin Scorsese's biopic on billionaire Howard Hughes witnesses the second collaboration between himself and Leonardo DiCaprio, who finally definitively sheds his up until then dominating stigma of a 'pretty boy' superstar in favour of a classification as a true top actor. DiCaprio successfully plays the noted industrialist as a man ruled by his various personal ticks and impulsive weaknesses from the late 1920s up until his last few years living as a hermit in a hotel room. Lavish production design includes a phenomenal look at the Golden Age of Hollywood as Hughes took control of RKO Studios to direct his own movie, and various classic air planes constructed by Hughes as part of his most notable passion, his love of aviation. Scorsese also tells of Hughes' romances with star actresses Katharine Hepburn (a fantastic Cate Blanchett, who rightfully won an Oscar for her contribution) and Ava Gardner (a less convincing Kate Beckinsale). Overall, Scorsese does a good job at explaining this otherwise unfathomable man, though the film does drag on too much in the long run, especially when it comes to the affairs revolving Hughes' 'Spruce Goose' dream plane project.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale

Directed by Martin Scorsese

USA: Forward Pass, 2004